you see that man and that boy over there?”
Mr. Stuckey squinted in the direction of the two people. “Yes, my dear, I do see them. Do you think they came here to pay respect to Edward?”
“Only one way to find out,” said Mrs. Stuckey. She waved to the two people and gestured for them to come over.
The man stood there, unable to move. He looked away from Mr. and Mrs. Stuckey and crossed his arms. The small boy hid behind the man’s leg, peeking out every few seconds at Mrs. Stuckey.
Mrs. Stuckey could see the man was embarrassed and for some reason was too shy to walk over to them. She took a step towards the man but the man uncrossed his arms and waved for her to stop. He started to walk towards them, keeping his head down and his eyes on the ground. The small boy darted away and hid behind a small tree.
Mrs. Stuckey wondered why this man would be so shy as to not even look at them. As the man got closer, she finally got a good look at his face. The entire left side of the man’s face was purple and scarred, looking like the skin had once been peeled away. She gasped out loud when she realized who the man was.
“You’re that boy who was burned in the pet shop, aren’t you?” said Mrs. Stuckey.
The man nodded. “Yes Ma’am. I am the foolish, stupid boy who was burned. I’m Willie O’Ray. I apologize for bothering both of you, but I wanted to say how sorry I am for everything that happened. It’s taken me all these years to find the courage to come here. I hope…” Willie paused, finding it hard to continue with the emotion building up inside. “I hope you can somehow…find it in your hearts to forgive me.” The second Willie finished speaking he looked down at the ground again, tears welling up in his eyes.
Mr. and Mrs. Stuckey looked at each other, then looked at Willie. They both had a warm, gentle smile on their face.
“Of course we forgive you,” Mr. Stuckey said. "We can't even begin to express our sadness at losing Edward, but we are joyful that we got to know and love him, even though it was for such a brief and wonderful time. And knowing his first concern was to help someone in trouble, well, that makes us so proud.”
“I hope your little boy will someday make you as proud as our dear beloved Edward made us,” Mrs. Stuckey said. “Why don't you ask him to come out from behind that tree? We would like to meet him.”
Willie still found it hard to look directly at them. He kept his head down and his eyes on the ground.
“What's wrong Willie? Why are you so embarrassed? Is it because of your burned face?” asked Mr. Stuckey.
Without looking up Willie said, “I don't care about my face. It was my own fault. I deserve what I got. I'm lucky to be alive, considering how stupid I was. No, the reason I'm embarrassed…Well, you'll see.” He turned and yelled out in the direction of the tree. “Edward! Come here! Now!”
The small boy looked out from behind the tree. “No!” he yelled back.
“Edward, I want you meet these nice people. They are the parents of the boy who you're named after. Please, come here now. It won't take long,” Willie said.
Edward finally came out from behind the tree and slowly walked over to his father.
“Mr. and Mrs. Stuckey, I would like you to meet my son, Edward.” Willie gently nudged him in their direction.
Mr. and Mrs. Stuckey now saw the reason for Willie's deep embarrassment. They looked at each other in amazement.
“My, my,” said Mr. Stuckey.
“Oh my dear heavens,” said Mrs. Stuckey.
Edward O'Ray's head was shaped exactly like a plain old ordinary bucket.
~~~~
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